Mojito
Rum, lime, sugar, mint, soda — a Cuban Highball built for hot afternoons.
- Slapped mint sprigaroma over the drink
- Soda water top
- Cracked ice, filled
- Rum poured in
- Mint leaves + syrup + limein glass; press mint gently
How to make it
- Add mint leaves, simple syrup, and lime juice to a Highball glass. Press the mint gently with a muddler — a few firm pushes, not a grinding motion, or the leaves go bitter.
- Add rum and fill the glass with cracked ice.
- Stir briefly with a bar spoon to lift the mint through the drink.
- Top with cold soda water. Slap a mint sprig between your palms to release the oils and place it on top so the drinker smells it with every sip.
The history
The Mojito descends from El Draque, a 16th-century Cuban medicinal drink of aguardiente (proto-rum), lime, sugar, and mint, named after Sir Francis Drake. When Cuba's rum industry industrialized in the 19th century, aguardiente was replaced by white rum and the drink took its modern form.
It became internationally famous in the 1930s and 40s through La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, and later through the endless Hemingway-and-Cuba mythology. Whether Hemingway actually drank Mojitos regularly is disputed; a hand-signed plaque at La Bodeguita saying he did is almost certainly a forgery.
The cocktail-revival bar culture of the 2000s rebuilt the Mojito's reputation after a decade of sugar-syrup-and-bottled-mix American versions had ruined it. The correct drink is bracingly fresh, not saccharine.
Common mistakes
- Muddling the mint too hard
Grind the mint and you extract chlorophyll-heavy bitterness. Press it gently — enough to release oils, not enough to shred the leaves.
- Warm soda
Cold soda from a cold bottle only. Room-temperature soda flattens the drink and warms the ice column.
- Bottled mint syrup
Mint syrup tastes like toothpaste. Use fresh mint every time.
Variations
- Rum Old Fashioned
Same rum, no citrus, no soda — the stripped-back winter version.
- South Side
Gin instead of rum, no soda; shaken and served up. A speakeasy-era New York variant.
- Frozen Mojito
Blend all ingredients with crushed ice and no soda. Not classical but genuinely refreshing at 32°C+.
Frequently asked
- Do I really need to slap the mint?
- Yes. Slapping releases the volatile oils that give the garnish its aroma without shredding the leaves.
- White or gold rum?
- White is the traditional Cuban spec. Gold rum makes a heavier drink that reads more like a Rum Sour with soda.
- Can I skip the soda?
- You can — the resulting drink is a Rum Sour with mint, sometimes called a South Side. Different drink, still good.